I am staring at Colnago’s new C60, the bike I had flown almost 6,000 miles, enduring two cancelled flights, to ride in the rain for two hours and 10 minutes on unfamiliar roads.

I am cold and wet and grimy from travel. And I am smiling. I am smiling as a hand grips my elbow. I turn to see 82-year-old Ernesto Colnago, founder of the eponymous company, at my side. “Tutto bene?” he asks. “Tutto bene,” I say. And I mean it.

Permit me to boast: After nearly 20 years of bike testing, I have ridden thousands of bikes. There are few people in the world who can tell you with as much authority as I just how amazing today’s best racing bikes are. The frames weigh 800 grams or less, yet are stiff and comfortable—and handle as though imbued with magic.

Amazing, and also anonymous. The look, the feel, the performance, the story, and even the finish of all these bikes is so similar that part of the experience of the ride feels lost: a connection to the bicycle, a connection to the people and passion behind the bicycle.

On my test ride I found the C60 noticeably stiffer than the C59. (Gruber/Colnago)

The C60 is not anonymous. It is arguably flawed but almost completely perfect because of that. No one else could build this bike but Colnago, something you realize when you consider the history of the brand and doting care of Ernesto.

It is the only carbon Colnago made in Italy. Like most other brands, Colnago went to Taiwan for manufacturing as a matter of survival. The company will fiercely state that the bikes made outside Italy are still Colnago, with the design, geometry, and ride characteristics coming from Italy.

I asked him why it was important to make the C60 in Italy. He responded, though a translator, "I was born as a frame maker. For us it is not all about money. Our passion is to create frames, not only to design them. I want to follow the full process, from the sketch to the final shipping of the bicycle. Making frames is part of my life and it's part of the history of my brand. That's why we still make frames here. I think we still have something good to do here in Italy."

Workers clean then apply glue to frame components before construction. The frame is first assembled in a jig (seen far left) and then put into an oven to cure. (Matt Phillips)

The C60, like the C59 before it, is built via tube-and-lug construction and is assembled at Colnago’s factory in Cambiago, Italy. The frame components are designed in-house at Colnago’s headquarters, but their manufacture is subcontracted to an Italian composites company, so the C60’s “Made In Italy” claim covers more than just assembly and paint.

Though heavier than other carbon-frame-building methods, like tube-to-tube or monocoque, tube-and-lug construction allows Colnago to make custom C60s for riders who want a size not included among the 14 stock sizes. Colnago says it also allows for the replacement of damaged frame components in-house. This doesn’t seem to be lip service: During my tour of the Colnago factory, I saw a few damaged frames in various states of repair along with a healthy stock of frame components dating back to the 20-year-old C40.

Colnago’s signature star-shaping runs the full length of the top tube and down tube and through the lugs. (Matt Phillips)

Compared with the C59, the C60 frame is bigger, stiffer, and slightly lighter. One of the most significant changes, according to Davide Fumagalli, Colnago’s 27-year-old designer, was eliminating the C59’s round tube and lug junctions and extending Colnago’s signature faceted star shape the full length of the tube and through the lugs. The star tube is more resistant to twisting than a round tube, says Fumagalli, plus the keyed interface between tube and lug means that the stiffness in the junction isn’t created only by glue.

The star lug and tube interface can be traced back to a prototype steel bike called the Master Progress built by Colnago in 1986 (seen in the company’s wonderful museum in Cambiago). Extending the star shaping into the lug produced impressive stiffness benefits, company manager Alex Colnago—Ernesto’s nephew—told me. However, the frame proved too difficult to keep in alignment to be mass-produced.

Another change that improves stiffness is an increase in tubing diameter throughout the frame. It’s most easily seen at the down tube, which has swollen from about 44mm on the C59 to 66x52mm on the C60. The seat tube is asymmetric now: The front derailleur limits space on the drive side, but the nondrive side was pushed out as far as possible. And ribs inside the chainstays improve lateral stiffness, Alex says.

Colnago uses a new system it calls PressFit82.5 at the bottom bracket. Fumagalli argues that it is not a new standard, but different approach to the established BB86. The C60 bottom bracket will accept any BB86 compatible crank, like those made by Shimano, SRAM, Campagnolo, and FSA, as well as BB386EVO. However, instead of pressing the BB directly into carbon or a permanently bonded aluminum sleeve, Colnago uses replaceable aluminum cups threaded into a removable center sleeve on the C60.

Fumagalli says press-fit bearing seats wear over time, leading to noise and other problems. By replacing the cups (bearing seats) as they wear, tolerances are kept fresh and the bike is, in theory, smoother and quieter for it. The replaceable bearing-seat philosophy is carried through to the headset as well and appears to be a conscious choice to forgo the weight benefits of direct press-in bearings for a system Colnago feels offers better long-term performance.

In essence, Colnago is attempting to combine the replaceable bearing cups of a threaded system with the benefits of a press-fit system. The wider shell creates the space for the larger, stiffer down tube and seat tube, and the chainstays may be set wider for further stiffness gains.

While Fumagalli claims the C60 is stiffer than the C59, he would not reveal numbers, saying, “It’s really difficult to say how much, because it’s not fair to test just the lateral stiffness, that’s why we didn’t give you a number.”

It’s a vague response, but I accept it because Colnago makes clear its goal of building a great bike, not chasing numbers. I’ve ridden a C59 extensively and though I never had any complaints, I do not consider it a stiff bike. But the C60 is noticeably stiffer and significantly narrows the gap between the C60 and superbikes like the Specialized S-Works Tarmac and Cannondale SuperSix EVO Hi-Mod.

Ernesto Colnago with designer Davide Fumagalli. (Gruber/Colnago)

While stiffer, the C60 is also slightly lighter than the C59. To decrease weight, Colnago thinned tube walls and developed a new set of forged and machined aluminum dropouts. The claimed weight of a painted 52cm C60 is 1,050 grams, 25 grams lighter than the C59. Though updated, the C60’s 1 1/8- to 1 ¼-inch tapered-steerer fork is the same weight as the C59’s: 390 grams.

Just reading 1,050 grams will be enough for many people to write off the C60 (if the price didn’t already). But it’s important to note that Colnago wasn’t chasing the lowest weight possible. The company intentionally chose a heavier construction method, it paints the bikes lavishly and, of no small note, is Ernesto Colnago’s desire to create a safe bicycle.

My conversations with Ernesto about bikes have always touched on the topic of safety. He’s a strong advocate of disc brakes because he believes they will help riders avoid crashes (a disc version of the C60 will debut later this year). In 2007, the first time I interviewed him, he expressed concern over the then-current industry race to build a sub-1,000-gram frame, stating that, though he could build a light bike, building a safe bike was more important to him.

Like all bikes sold in Europe, the C60 must pass the EN14781 impact test. Fumagalli says that while he believes the EN standard is too low, he would confidently ride a bike that is two times stronger than the EN minimum. For a frame to bear the Colnago logo, however, it must exceed the impact test minimum by three-and-a-half times. The C60 exceeds even that cautious mandate, and will take an impact almost five times greater than the EN minimum, says Fumagalli.

Before paint, the C60 frame is cleaned and heavily masked. Because the process is completely done by hand, no two finishes are exactly alike. (Matt Phillips)

The C60’s finish (11 are offered) is a point of pride for the company. Paint is heavy, so the more elaborate the finish, the heavier the frame will be. “For this kind of product, we think the look has to be something unico, one of a kind. We don't want to make just another bike,” says Fumagalli. “Some graphics are impossible to do with stickers. You have to look at the frame in the sun. It makes a huge difference if you paint the frame or if you put some decals on.”

The entire finish, including graphics and accents, are masked and painted by hand. It’s time consuming, labor intensive, and requires skilled, experienced hands. Colnago found those hands three hours away from Cambiago. A typical bike factory would have its paint facility in-house or down the street for maximum efficiency. But the people that Ernesto wants painting its frames are three hours away. So, every week, frames travel out and then back again for final prep and shipping.

Colnago offers the C60 in nine sloping top-tube sizes, five traditional (level top tube) sizes, plus custom. Each size also comes in two drivetrain options: one dedicated to electronic groups, and another that accommodates electronic or mechanical with a convertible housing-stop system.

The 1986 Colnago Master Progress prototype was the forefather of the C60’s star tube and lug interface. (Matt Phillips)

Ride Impression
Though two hours and 10 minutes is hardly enough time to get to know a bicycle, I was able to form initial impressions. The C60 is notably stiffer than the C59, and more in line with the ideal of the modern superbike. It nearly achieves the jumpiness of the very fastest-feeling bikes. I’d call it comfortable, not plush, just slightly springy. It’s almost smooth, slightly compliant—more so than most modern carbon race bikes—and more damped than bright and buzzy. Overall, it seems to pass the good and pleasant sensations on to the rider while taking away most of the bad.

The handling was similar to many European bikes I’ve ridden—requiring a bit more directive from the rider to change its line than an American-style bike. It is not a slower-handling bike in my opinion, just more deliberate in its actions. I will say the conditions, iffy braking (thanks to brand-new carbon rims), and limited traction caused some tense moments for me on the road, and the C60 was predictable, accurate, and intuitive at all times.

I’ll need more time on the bike to tease out a complete profile, but overall my impression is that the C60 is a well-rounded, refined bike and one that, intentionally and proudly, stands apart from the current paradigm of a high-performance bike. It will not be every rider’s ideal bike, and I suspect many will view the C60 as tragically burdened by the history of a brand with its best days behind it. I prefer to believe something else: that there are few bikes in the world that embody the soul and ideals of a brand as well as the C60 embodies Colnago’s.

Despite wet and cold, I still enjoyed my ride on the C60. (Gruber/Colnago)